Mission San Juan Capistrano

We went to Southern California for a family vacation so decided to visit another mission while we were in the area. It was a little out of the way but we had a few hours to spare so headed down to see yet another mission. I am so glad we did.

 It was totally worth the trip, this mission was beautiful! The weather couldn't have been nicer either. Sunny but not hot or humid. Perfect for a stroll through these lovely gardens and buildings.

San Juan Capistrano looks like what I always pictured in my head a mission would have looked like. It has the Spanish villa feel with all the buildings built around a courtyard. Shaded walk ways all around.

The kids loved all the fountains in the gardens. Some even had fish swimming around in them.

We walked through the ruins of the old stone church that was destroyed by an earthquake almost 2 centuries ago

Here is a little model of what the mission looked like long ago when the stone church was still standing.

The bells of the mission still ring.


Molly and Sophie enjoyed relaxing in the gardens. Molly especially loved the purple flowers, from the jacaranda trees that were in bloom throughout the grounds, that were littered all over the grounds.

We didn't see the famous swallows of San Juan Capistrano. It wasn't the right time of year for them to visit. I guess you have to be here in March to see them when they come. 



In the old cemetery there were a bunch of olive trees.



Father Serra's chapel in one of the buildings.

Not the most flattering picture of us but we don't often get a picture of all of us at once. So I guess we have to take what we can get.

It was a great way to spend a few hours. And a wonderful place to visit especially after reading so much about the Missions and Father Serra and learning some of the history.

Salt Dough Map of Cali.

In order to reinforce some of the geography we have studied recently, and because I needed to be a "fun Mom" with a hands on activity I decided to make a salt dough map of California. I remember doing this when I was younger. I think I made the whole USA for a school project one of those elementary years. I got the recipe and basic directions from Jimmie's Squido lens about the project they did. I think the recipe she gives makes a lot more dough than we needed (unless your map is going to be really big!) so I would half it next time.

Salt Dough Recipe

4 cups of flour
2 cups of salt
2 cups of water
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar

Mix with your hands (that's the fun part) until the consistency of playdough. Add more water or flour as necessary.

The kids had fun making the dough all by themselves. When else are you ever going to use almost a whole box/cylinder of Salt?!

I drew the outline of California onto the cardboard and then the kids filled it in with the dough.

Then the kids got busy putting in the mountains and the long central valley by pushing and poking the dough around. I am sure they aren't that accurate but they certainly look pretty good. Henry put in a very tall Mt. Whitney and Sophie pressed the dough very thin  for Death Valley.

We had to wait a day before painting. I can't believe it but they waited two days. We finally got around to painting it today. 

 We used a lot of blue, brown, green and some yellow. The kids really loved it when I gave them some gold paint too so they added in a few dots of gold all around the state to show where you can/could find gold.

We haven't put the cities in yet. I think we are going to label a number of important places once it dries completely. My boys especially noticed that we didn't put in the Channel Islands, off the coast of our map of California. I guess we are going to have to draw them in. I am so surprised that they really loved the Island of the Blue Dolphin book so much. They talk about it all the time. I guess it also helps that we are going to be going to the Island of Catalina soon. These kids are so excited for the cruise.

I don't know how we are ever going to part with it. My kids are under the impression that this piece of artwork is going to be on display for years to come.

I am glad they had a good time.

Two Missions in One Morning

We decided to take a field trip today. I didn't tell the kids where we were going until we got there but they were really excited to see something we had just read about the day before. Sophie was especially surprised to find out that we had two Missions so close to home.

 

Mission Santa Clara is located on the campus of Santa Clara University so it is very well kept and the grounds were beautiful. My husband said he has a few co-workers who chose this as their wedding venue. Today the campus was getting ready for graduation but nobody seemed to mind that we wandered around.

 

My kids had a lot of fun exploring the grounds. There wasn't any museum or even a visitor's center so we just looked at the buildings and frolicked through the roses, wisteria and birds of paradise that filled the gardens around the buildings. 

 

Here is Henry showing us how thick the adobe walls are. 

 

He also felt the need to try out every door. This one was very beautifully carved with a bear.

 Near the rose garden we found a statue of Father Junipero Serra who was the founder of the California Missions. Father Serra was the only person I remember from my 4th grade year when we did California history.

As we left this first mission Sophie was excited to see that the road we were on was the El Camino Real. All the missions are about a day's ride from each other all along the El Camino Real.  I am glad we had a car to drive the 20 minutes it took for us to reach the 2nd mission on our tour,  Mission San Jose. Sophie checked to see if we were still on the El Camino Real and we weren't this mission is located on Mission Blvd. 

This mission was not as well manicured as the Santa Clara Mission. I explained to the kids that this is more realistic and much more like what the mission probably really looked like.

Mission San Jose had a nice little museum inside which showed some of the history of the place and the people that lived in it.

There were dioramas about the Native Indian people that lived on the land before the Spanish came.

They had furniture and clothing displayed to show what the padres would have worn and how they lived.

The gardens were not as well kept and not nearly as colorful but the kids still enjoyed waking through them. And of course they found the statue of Father Serra and a fountain. They were thrilled with the discovery.

Inside the chapel we looked at all the icons, paintings and statues.

I am glad my kids were well behaved in the chapel. There were some people inside praying. I know both of the missions we saw today still hold services inside.

On the whole I felt like it was a successful field trip. I am glad we went to both missions. I had planned to only go to one but I think it was good to see them both to see the similarities and the contrasts. And Best of all, my kids got to see and touch a little bit of California history today and see some of the things we have been reading about come to life a little more.

The Hard Part of Parenthood

There are many aspects of parenthood that are difficult. I can't say I enjoy wiping bottoms, cleaning up after a child gets sick in the car, being woken up 3 or more times in the night by the baby, shopping with 4 kids in toe, and all the other really "lovely" parts of being a Mom. The thing I find the most difficult to deal with at times is the noise.

Noise seems like such a small thing but it really drives me batty some days. There are times I just don't know if I can handle listening to yet another tantrum because I had asked a child to do something they don't want to do. I get so irritated when I have to listen to one child cry and tattle about what one of the others had done to him. And I admit I get really tired of listening to the constant chatter about imaginary characters or animals that they love to tell me about.

Yesterday my kids discovered a new game. They break out our child's atlas that has pictures all over the continents with the natural resources and things you can find in those areas. All three kids will choose a place to start and then they all start yelling their paths through the continent while they pick up as many resources they can. I love that they are being creative and making up fun games out of nothing but a book of maps....but... my goodness it was loud! And there was a whole lot of fighting as they tried to figure out who won on each page. I tried really hard to let them play and figure things out themselves. I even left the room so I wouldn't hear it quite as well. But I could tell the noise was really starting to drive me crazy. Eventually I went in and put them to work doing something else and I picked up the book from where they left it and stuck it up high on the tall bookshelf so they wouldn't pick it up again once they were done.

It probably doesn't help that Molly seems to think she has to be in sight of me or has to be held at all times . If I even leave a room she starts crying and following me. If I put her down and she doesn't want to be down she lets me know it. My goodness can this girl screech! It is the type of shriek that just sends chills through my body.

I can now understand Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice when she talks about her "poor nerves".  Mine feel pretty frayed by the end of each day.

I know this is my problem. I own this one. I can't blame them that I just have trouble dealing with their noise.  It isn't something they are doing wrong.  They are just being kids and doing what kids do. I just don't know how to cope with the clamour these kids generate some days.

Most of the time when it just starts to get too tumultuous I send them all outside. They can go bother the neighbors for awhile.

City Slickers

This weekend my kids spent a lot of time playing with their cousins. The cousins live up in the foothills while we live in the city.   We don't have much of a yard to play in. We have a driveway to ride bikes, and scooters or skateboard on. It is a little limited.  So we go to the park a lot and play or take hikes in beautiful preserves. My kids love to get dirty. They love to climb trees and pick flowers. They often lead their friends away from the playground to find more fun among the bushes and branches of the nature around them. I felt like they were pretty adventurous until I saw this. 

I know it looks just like a tall pine tree. But look a little closer and you will see about 4 of 5 kids climbing up to the very top.

I admit I was wide eyed at first as I saw my kids 3 stories up at the top of this tree. I watched as it swayed a bit in the breeze and because of their weight.  I did a little quick pondering and decided it was alright. The tree has so many branches that even if they lost footing or a branch broke they wouldn't fall far.  

I was assured by the cousins that they climb this tree all the time. I went inside and left my kids to enjoy the tree. I asked my Sister-in-law if her heart skipped a beat the first time she saw them climb that tree (they moved into this house only a year and a half or so ago) and she said "no". She explained that they have been climbing trees at their old house too and it was just one of the things they do outside.  I am sure she thought I was silly for worrying about such a little thing. 

I grew up in this area of the world. I wasn't a city slicker until later. But evidently I wasn't quite as adventurous as my nieces and nephew. My kids didn't seem to show any fear of joining the other kids on the climb. They all thought it was great fun!

As much as I want to keep my kids safe I also don't want to remove some of the adventure that life can give them.  I am glad they have opportunities to explore and enjoy nature in less manicured areas. The parks in the city are all pruned and trimmed so that kids can't climb trees. It frustrates my little guys. They love it when they do find a tree they can climb.

I am so glad we get to go up to visit our family and leave the city behind so often.

When Boys take Pictures

My boys love to get their hands on the camera. They think it is so fun to snap pictures of everything around them. There is something exciting about pushing the button and then seeing the picture come up on the back. A lot of the time when they do this they just take pictures with no thought except to press the button. We get lots of pictures of their feet or the wall or some random thing. They are often fuzzy, crooked, or blurry.

I have been telling Henry that if he wants to take pictures he needs to take them of people. So this time he decided to Molly would be his subject.

Molly has no trouble being  the model. When the camera comes out she knows what to do. The only problem is after a few shots she wants to take a few too. That camera must sure look fun.

The pictures Henry takes are fun because they are from his perspective and of what he finds interesting.

opps! Too Close.

I showed him how to use the zoom the other day. He must have been experimenting.

This is better.

So when is it my turn?

Ian took the camera next and took about twenty shots of this.

Ian is always proud of his creations and wants pictures of them. But I don't know if I need quite so many of the same creature.

A little closer.

A slightly different angle.

Wait.... what about me?!

That's better!

Yes, the boys do have fun with the camera.